Dropbox Diversifier: Judith Williams

Introducing more diversity into our workplaces isn’t an obligation. It’s a decision that can make a company smarter and more creative.

Since arriving at the company, Dropbox’s global head of diversity Judith Williams has worked to increase the pipeline of women and under-represented groups, create an inclusive corporate culture and build better ties with communities around the business. Judith previously worked at Google - where she helped the team become aware of “unconscious bias”, in which people lean toward those who are similar to them. She has also applied this insight to the film industry, exploring unconscious gender bias with JJ Abrams’ film company Bad Robot in the run up to the filming of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Twitter Software Supremo: Jessie Link

Jessie Link is helping to bring the future of Twitter to life.

She’s been a user for more than seven years, and in January she got the chance to shape its growth as a director of engineering in the UK. Jessie oversees a range of teams working on projects such as Tweetdeck and Twitter Live, and plays a role in recruiting a committed and diverse team. She previously led engineering teams at LivingSocial and Lookingglass Cyber Solutions, and firmly believes in the impact of a diverse and inclusive company culture. Jessie can also be found gaming, watching movies, or working on coding side projects.

Geek Leader: Meri Williams

Meri is a geek, a manager, and a manager of geeks. She's a CTO, delighted to have recently joined MOO, and also manages her own micro-consultancy ChromeRose which helps digital & technical teams be brilliant.

She’s led technology teams ranging in size from 30 to 300, mostly with people spread across the world, in a range of organisations from Procter & Gamble, to startups, to the Government Digital Service.

A published author and international speaker, she sponsors scholarships to help more girls start STEM careers in her hometown of Stellenbosch, South Africa. She's proud to be the host and co-curator of The Lead Developer conference.

Rocket Scientist: Amanda Regan

How far can you go with the right perspective?

There were many hurdles that could have stopped Amanda Regan from fulfilling her childhood dream of working in the space industry. But she worked her way methodically up to the European Space Agency, where she works as an engineer in Earth Observation Future Missions for 13 years. Amanda specialized in satellite constellation development and recent projects include the Swarm mission, that was launched in 2013 to measure the Earth’s magnetic field, and she worked closely with other space agencies such as NASA. She now represents the European Space Agency at the European Commission in Research and Innovation. In her spare time she’s also a career and CV coach. She speaks internationally, runs social media CV groups and helps other ambitious people to discover how to fulfill their dreams even when everything seems against them.

STEM Prodigy: Anne-Marie Imafidon

How to we inspire more women to become pioneers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics?

Anne-Marie’s journey started early. She passed her maths and ICT GCSEs at the age of 10, and was the youngest person in the world to pass an A-level computing exam, aged just 11. She'd added a masters degree in maths and computer science from Oxford University to her CV by the time she turned 20. As the co-founder of the award-winning social enterprise Stemettes, she has helped more than 7,000 girls in the UK, Ireland and Europe to benefit from events and initiatives that showcase STEM subjects and careers. She is also a co-founder of the Outbox Incubator, the world’s first tech incubator for teenage girls.

Caroline is a Commanding Officer 2 Signal Regiment for the British Army

Armed Networker: Caroline Lewin MBE

Caroline Lewin’s 22-year journey with the Army has taken her from Tunbridge Wells to the Middle East.

Lieutenant Colonel Lewin had already been deployed in Northern Ireland and the Former Yugoslavia by the time she completed her degree in electronic systems engineering at Cranfield University. She’s put her technical skills to good use in the years since, with postings in Germany, Baghdad and Sandhurst. During her eventful career, she has commanded and trained squadrons, secured a masters in information management and technology, and been awarded an MBE. She has two young daughters and two Springer Spaniels, and enjoys hockey and running in remote places with decent views.

Stand Up Scientist: Emer Maguire

The world is fascinating and inspiring. But sometimes, we just need the right person to guide us through it.

Emer Maguire uses comedy to unlock the wonders of science. In 2015, the Queen’s University Belfast student won FameLab, an international competition to find the UK’s best science communicator. Emer has invited audiences to consider some of the planet’s most pressing questions, such as “Why do we fall in love?”, “Why do we kiss?” and “Why can’t apes talk?”. She will also soon present a six-part radio series on all things sexy and all things science.

Robot Humanist: Alex Reben

What can technology tell us about humanity?

Alexander Reben is an artist and roboticist whose work explores the ideas of human-machine relationships, artificial philosophy and robot ethics. While he was studying at MIT Media Lab, he developed Boxie, a tiny robot with a video camera who used the power of cuteness to encourage passers-by to tell their stories. His work and research has been shown and published internationally, and he consults with major companies who want to make their products more attractive to humans.

Business Romantic: Tim Leberecht

Isn’t it time you injected some passion and romance into your business?

San Francisco-based author, entrepreneur and consultant Tim Leberecht believes we can find more meaning in business, and connect with something greater. He is the founder of Leberecht & Partners, a consulting firm that helps leaders and organisation build better brands and cultures.

Tim has also shared his ideas in international bestseller, The Business Romantic: Give Everything, Quantify Nothing. Before launching his own practice, Tim was the chief marketing officer at global design and architecture firm NBBJ, and at product design consultancy Frog Design.

Tech Talent Evangeliser: Kirsty Styles

Kirsty Styles heads up the talent and skills programme for Tech North, an organisation focused on raising the profile of the Northern tech scene.

Over the last few years she has worked as a journalist, editor, podcaster and campaigner in East London, and has arrived at Tech North with an ambition to tackle social and economic issues related to technology. She has been an editor and reporter at the New Statesman, The Next Web and Tech City News, and is the presenter of the New Economics Foundation’s Weekly Economics Podcast.

Workshop Facilitator: Elisa Anastasi

Elisa combines her love of bioinformatics and genetics at Newcastle University. Her current project involves identifying unique protein signatures in different bacterial groups, a study which could help to develop valuable diagnostic and therapeutic tools. She left sunny Malta a decade ago to go to university in Scotland, and is now supported by Newcastle’s School of Computing Science and the Centre for Health and Bioinformatics.

Workshop Facilitator: Laura Heels

Laura is a staff member at Newcastle University’s School of Computing Science. As well as teaching on Stage 1 undergraduate modules, she helps students to make the transition from school to university. She is also studying a part-time PhD on gender bias in the design of programming languages.

Workshop Facilitator: Maryam Mehrnezhad

Maryam Mehrnezhad’s research interests include mobile security, NFC payment, usable security and applied soft computing. She is a final-year PhD student at Newcastle University’s School of Computing Science, and has contributed to W3C specifications as part of her work on mobile sensor security.

Workshop Facilitator: Angelika Strohmayer

Angelika is a doctoral trainee in digital civics. She often works with charities that support people with complex needs, both on a national and local level. Many of her projects focus on sex working and the sex worker rights movement, and how to deal with the complexities that arise out of them. She is interested in the design, development and evaluation of digital technologies to help charities and their beneficiaries.

Workshop Facilitator: Janis Lena Meissner

Janis is a doctoral trainee in digital civics. Her PhD research focuses on how making and smart materials can empower different groups. As part of her MSc thesis, she developed an augmented interactive “yarnbombing” installation as part of a collaboration with urban knitters. She has also run workshops enabling people with physical impairments to create their own designs with maker tech.

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